Fluid-pressure brake.



PATBNTED DEC. 11, 1906.

W. H. SAUVAGE. FLUID PRESSURE BRAKE.

APILIOATION FILED DEU- 26, 1905.

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ATTOH E) I VAGE, a citizen of the United States of Amer- UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

WILLIAM HENRY SAUVAGE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SAUVAGE SAFETY BRAKE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FLUID-PRESSURE BRAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 11, 1906.

T0 at whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM HENRY SAU- ica, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fluid-Pressure Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to fluidpressure brake systems, and more specifically comprises an apparatus whereby a second or auxiliary cylinder may operate its piston to reinforce or increase the brake-pressure after the main cylinder has operated its piston to take up the slack and set the brake-shoes against the wheels with an initial pressure of less degree. Heretofore it has been proposed to accomplish this result by means of an arrangement comprising two cylinders and their respective pistons and piston-rods and a clutch, one member of which is carried by the brake-rigging and the other operated by the piston of the auxiliary or .second cylinder but this arrangement I find objection: able, for the reason, among others, that the clutch members thus carried by the moving parts are liable to get out of adjustment and that the necessity of attaching such clutches to the piston-rod interferes with the use of the standard brake equipment of cylinder, piston, and piston-rods which are now in use on so many hundreds of thousands of cars.

My invention avoids these difficulties, and an apparatus embodying the best form there of at present known to me is illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan View of the cylinders and their connections with a portion of the brake rigging sufficient to illustrate my invention, parts being, broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 a detail sectional view of a modification.

Throughout the drawings like referencefigures indicate like parts.

1 is the ordinary brakecylinder, 2 the auxiliary reservoir, 3 the pipe connecting the same, 4 the ordinary form of triple valve, and 5 the train-pipe, of the standard air-brake apparatus. The cylinder of course has a piston 6, which by means of its istonrod 7, levers 8 and 9, tie-rod 10, and rakerods 11 and 12 transmits the force of the compressed air admitted to the cylinder 1 to the brake-shoe systems. (Not shown.)

13 is the second or auxiliary cylinder, con nected to the main cylinder by the pipe 14 and provided with a cut-out cock 15. This pipe connects to the interior of cylinder l by a port in the side of said cylinder, which is located at any predetermined distancesay five and one-half inchesfrom the cylinderhead, so that said port is uncovered and com munication to the cylinder 13 opened up only when piston 6 in cylinder 1 has traveled such predetermined distance.

In the auxiliary cylinder 13 is the usual piston 13 and piston-rod 13 pivoted to the ordinary form of brake-lever 16, which is connected by link 17 to the piston-rod 7 of the first cylinder or to the brake-lever 8. The other end of said brake-lever 16 is pivoted to the rod 18, which passes through the frictionclutch 19. This friction-clutch consists of the well-known form comprising a swinging dog 19, pivoted at 19 and perforated to permit the passage of the rod 18 freely When the dog 19 is in such position that the axis of its perforation is parallel to the axis of the rod 18, but which pinches said rod 18 and prevents it sliding through the perforation as soon as the dog 19 is swung to one side or the other.

20 is a small pneumatic cylinder having piston 21, whose piston-rod 22 is adjustably connected to the clutch-dog 19 by means of the nuts 23.

24 is a spring normally forcing said piston 21 toward the right, (see Fig. 1,) and 25 is an exhaust-port.

26 is a pipe or hose connecting the cylinder 20 with the exhaust-port of the triple valve 4.

In Figs. 2 and 3 substantially the same arrangement is shown, except that in place of the friction clutch or dog 19 a positive latch 36 is shown, which engages a notch 27 in the rod 18 This latch is normally forced into such engagement by the spring 2? acting on the piston 21 in the pneumatic cylinder 20". This cylinder has an exhaust-port 25 and is connected with the triple exhaust by the pipe 26 28 is a stop on the end of the rod 18, and

, 28 a similar stop on the end of the rod 18.

Such being the construction, the mode of operation is as follows: Normally the lever 16 is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and the lever 8 in the position shown in full lines. Upon the admission of compressed air to the cylinder 1. its piston 6 is forced outward and the lever 16 is thrown into the position shown in full lines, the rod 18 sliding through the perforation in the clutch-dog 19. As soon as the connection to cylinder 13 is opened up compressed air passes over to said auxiliary cylinder and piston 13 begins to move out and tends to swing the lever 16 in the opposite direction. This tends to withdraw the rod 18 to the right through clutch-dog 19, which immediately grips the same and affords a rigid fulcrum for the lever 16. Power applied through the piston-rod 13 of the auxiliary cylinder causes said lever to turn on its fulcrum and pull out the piston-rod 7 of the main cylinder still farther, thus applying a triple pressure to the brake-rods and brake-shoes. When the engineer releases his brakes, the exhaustair in the triple valve passes through pipe 26 to cylinder 20, forces piston 21 to the left, overpowering spring 24 until the exhaustport 25 is opened, so as to permit the exhaustair to escape. This swings the friction-dog 19 into a position such as to release its grip on the rod 18, and both pistons 6 and 13 are allowed to return to the ends of the cylinders as the air is exhausted therefrom.

In the modificationshown in Figs. 2 and 3 the same action takes place, except that when the rod 18 is forced out (to the right, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the brake-cylinders having been turned around in these, views) the latch 36 slips into the notch 27 by the action of the spring 24* and affords a rigid fulcrum for the end of the lever 16 until the opening of the exhaust-port from the triple valve sends the air through pipe 26 to cylinder 20 forces down piston 21 and releases the latch from engagement with the notch 2 7.

The advantages of my invention comprise the added braking power and economy in the use of compressed air resulting, the convenience of attachment to present systems which results from the fact that no modification of the standard form of brake-cylinder and piston-rod and brake-levers is required, and the ease of attachment, certainty of action, and non-liability to get out of order of the clutch and latch mechanisms which result from making the same self-contained and attached to the car-body instead of to moving parts of the brake system.

It is evident, of course, that various changes could be made in the details of construction shown without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Other arrangements of brake-levers and connecting-links might be substituted for those shown. Different forms of friction clutches and latches might be employed, and the releasing mechanism might be operated by other agencies than that of the air discharged from the exhaustport of the triple valve. These variations in form, however, I should still consider within the boundaries of my invention.

Having therefore described my invention, I claim 1. In a fluid-pressure brake system, the combination withthe main brake-cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, brake-rigging and triple valve, of a second auxiliary cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, means for admitting fluid under pressure to the second cylinder after the movement of the piston in the first cylinder has begun, a lever system connecting the piston of the second cylinder with the brake-rigging, and an adjustable fulcrum for said lever system.

2. In a fluid-pressure brake system, the combination with the main brake-cylinder, its piston and pistonrod, brake-rigging and triple valve, of a second auxiliary cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, means for admitting fluid under pressure to the second cylinder after the movement of the piston in the first cylinder has begun, a lever system connecting the piston of the second cylinder with the brake-rigging, and an adjustable fulcrum for said lever system, together with locking means for holding said adjustable fulcrum in position during the outward stroke of the second piston.

3. In a fluid-pressure brake system the combination with the main brake-cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, brake-rigging and triple valve, of a second auxiliary cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, means for admitting fluid under pressure to the second cylinder after the movement of the piston in the first cylinder has begun, a lever system connecting the piston of the second cylinder with the brake-rigging, and an adjustable fulcrum for said lever system, together with locking means for holding said adjustable fulcrum in position during the outward stroke of the second piston, and positivelyacting mechanism for releasing said locking means when the brakes are released.

4. In a fluid-pressure brake system, the combination with the main brake-cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, brake-rigging and triple valve, of a second auxiliary cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, means for admitting fluid under pressure to the second cylinder after the movement of the piston in the first cylinder has begun, a lever system connecting the iston of the second cylinder with the bra ke-rigging, and an adjustable fulcrum for said lever system, together with locking means for locking said adjustable fulcrum in position during the outward stroke of the second piston, and positivelyacting mechanism for releasing said locking means when the brakes are released, said lock-releasing mechanism comprising a pneumatic cylinder connected With the eXhaust of the triple Valve.

5. In a fluid-pressure brake system, 'the combination with the main brake-cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, brake-rigging and triple valve, of a second auxiliary cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, means for admitting fluid under pressure to the second cylinder after the movement of the piston in the first cylinder has begun, a lever system connecting the piston of the second cylinder With the brake-rigging, and an adjustable fulcrum for said lever system, together With a friction-clutch for holding said adjustable fulcrum in position during the outward stroke of the second piston.

6. In a fluid-pressure brake system, the combination With the main brake-cylinder,

its piston and piston-rod, brake-rigging and triple valve, of a second auxiliary cylinder, its piston and piston-rod, means foradmitting fluid under pressure to the second cylinder after the movement of the piston in the first cylinder has begun, a lever system connecting the piston of the second cylinder with the brake-rigging, and an adjustable fulcrum for said lever system, together With a friction-clutch for holding said adjustable fulcrum in position during the outward stroke of the second piston, and a pneumatic device arranged to trip said clutch, connected to the exhaust-port of the triple valve.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 19th day of December, 1905.

WILLIAM HENRY SAUVAGE. Witnesses:

FRANK OOoNNoR, M. G. CRAWFORD. 

